"We should have gotten Anima a gun," Spyro says almost idly once the four-wheelers are parked and we're all getting off them. It wasn't too muddy along the way, but somehow Leylina's lower half is still covered in the stuff.
"We are not shooting bigfoot!" Gatsby says, sounding appalled by that idea.
"Well I was talking more for Satanists and pissed off bears."
"If we piss a bear off, we deserve to be eaten by it," I speak up. "No matter how big they are, wild animals are only scary if you give them a reason to be scary, just like people."
"If you're right, then that would make them better than most people," Rune points out, a fact I can't argue.
Leylina trots away ahead of us, looking back at me several times to see if she'll get called back, but I let her go. "Jut stay where I can see you," I tell her. Once I do, she stops looking back so often, just exploring the area around us, sniffing and poking around, and once she starts to chase either a rabbit or a squirrel – some small animal I can't spot from here. But she always stops before she gets too far away, staying in our sight like I told her.
We take the camping backpacks off the backs of the four-wheelers, but Spyro leaves the cooler behind. Borden ties one of the rifles to the side of his backpack, then comes over and does the same to mine with the second rifle without a word.
"You did bring Anima a gun!" Spyro almost laughs.
"No one else knows how to shoot," Borden points out irritably.
"We'll stay within a two mile radius of the four-wheelers," Rune says, checking his map while Borden and Spyro cover all the four-wheelers with camo tarps. They grab stones and logs to prop against the vehicles and line along the bottom of the tarps to help them blend in and stay in place. By the time they're done, it's hard for me to see them even though I know they're there.
"What's around here?" Gatsby asks as we start walking. I glance around to make sure Leylina knows we're walking and knows to stay close. Thankfully, she does.
"We'll find out," Rune says, folding up the map and reaching back to put it in an outside pocket of his backpack.
"Very helpful," Gatsby comments.
"Where's Edelweiss?" Rune asks after a little while of walking, and of finding nothing besides the nature around us so far.
"What?" Gatsby glances back at Rune for a split second, then stops and looks around, turning in a circle. "You've got to be kidding me." I think I actually see fear in his eyes for a split second before he walks past me, back the way we came, and yells, "EDELWEISS!"
"Two damn minutes," Borden mutters under his breath.
"Hours," Rune corrects, he and Spyro also look around. I glance around to make sure Leylina's still in sight, but she's gone too. Before bothering to tell any of the boys though, I whistle, loud and sharp, startling all the boys in the process.
"Sorry. I can't see Leylina either," I explain quickly. She'll always come if she hears me call her name, but the sound of a whistle travels further than the sound of a voice. Gatsby turns away again, but before he can call for Edelweiss or I can whistle for Leylina again, they both come into sight. They're not quite coming from the way we did. Leylina looks like she's leading Edelweiss back, and Spyro almost laughs when he sees them.
"Smart dog," Rune comments, sounding surprised. I smile, relief washing over me. She is smart and I should have known better than to think she'd just wandered off. Of course she would only leave my line of sight for a good reason – and finding Edelweiss and leading her back to us would qualify as one.
YOU ARE READING
Anima's Ghost: The Summer Before (Song Line Echoes, book 2)
HorrorAll Anima's ever wanted was to be able to follow the ghost stories she reads. But at 15 years old, unable to drive and living alone with a strict father who just wants her to be normal, it's an impossible task. In the meantime, she runs a blog where...
